The West Virginia Parkways Authority is gearing up for the peak holiday travel season.
A thirteen-day period between December 21 and January 2 will be the busiest time on the roads, especially between the hours of 10 a.m. and 6 p.m.
The state expects a whopping 1.3 million transactions at the tree toll plazas on the turnpike. The peak day will be December 22, but the two days after Christmas will also be busy.
The WVU bowl game against The University of North Carolina in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Dec. 27 will also increase traffic on the roads.
To help with the increased traffic, there will be flaggers at each toll plaza to guide the traffic flow.
“We ask everyone just to use caution while on the West Virginia Turnpike. The road is heavily traveled by those from out of state that may not be familiar with the roadway like our local West Virginia drivers may be,” Jeff Miller, West Virginia Parkways Authority executive director, said. “So we do experience a lot of people from out of state that maybe tend to go a little slower in the left lanes and around the curves than they should and then speed up when they hit some straight stretches.”
Drivers on the roads this holiday can expect gas prices to be right around where they were last Christmas.
Nationwide, gas prices are hovering at around $3.03 per gallon on average, right where they were last year.
In West Virginia, gas is about $2.96 cents per gallon cheaper this year, a few cents cheaper than this time last year.
